


Salem: A Different Point of View

by slaysvamps



Series: Salem After Dark [12]
Category: World of Darkness (Games)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Mage: The Ascension - Freeform, Vampire: The Masquerade - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-09-24 01:49:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20350378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slaysvamps/pseuds/slaysvamps
Summary: Rafe is concerned when old friends gather in Salem, and his sister suddenly decides to leave town.





	1. Gathering of Friends

**Author's Note:**

> While we have used the names of some celebrities and their likenesses this is not a Backstreet Boys RPF.

_Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so a simple phrase like “maybe we should just be friends” or “how very perceptive” turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart._  
_ Rose Walker - Neil Gaiman’s Sandman_

RAFE AND BRENDA walked toward the store hand in hand. It had been a long day for Rafe, he’d spent most of it taking their things back to the Bathori Mansion and making sure his sister Sam was all right.

Their house sitters had been surprisingly well behaved, for werewolves. Only a few of the rooms had required cleaning before he’d returned to the Tremere chantry for his fiancée. He’d wanted nothing more than to take Brenda home and make love to her, but he’d promised Brian they would meet him at Borders for coffee.

As they walked up to the door, Rafe glanced through the window and almost gasped in surprise. Sitting at a table in the café area of the store with Brian were all his friends from New York, and Samantha, his sister.

Seeing his friends was a good thing, most of the time. What made Rafe want to leave without going in was the fact that Nick Kennedy was with them. Not that Nick wasn’t a friend, he was, but until a few months ago he’d been much more than that to Rafe.

They had first met three years ago when Rafe had gotten a job with a large publishing firm in New York. Nick’s father owned the firm, and Rafe had known from the start that Nick was off limits to him. Nick had been too young, and his father wouldn’t have approved of the relationship.

It wasn’t widely known in New York that Rafe was bisexual. He made a point to be seen with a beautiful woman occasionally but spent most of his time with his friends. Then Nick had seen Rafe at a restaurant with one of his lovers. From that night on, Nick pursued the older man relentlessly.

Rafe was able to keep his head until Nick turned eighteen. On the night of the boy’s birthday, Rafe came home to find Nick in his apartment with a bottle of wine and wearing almost nothing. He tried to get Nick to leave, but it was a loosing battle. They wound up in bed, and their relationship bloomed from there.

Nick had moved easily into Rafe’s life. Howie, Brian and AJ didn’t seem to be put off by Rafe’s sexual preferences, and soon Nick was included in all the activities that the four men had always done together. Rafe was happy, at least he was until Nick’s father found out what had been going on.

Within days Rafe lost his job at the publishing house, and no other firm in town would even talk to him about a job. Mr. Kennedy had effectively ended Rafe’s career and his relationship with Nick. Once Rafe resigned himself to that fact, he went home to Salem to rebuild his life. It had been the best thing that could have happened to him.

In Salem he was able to spend time getting to know his family again. He’d lived with his sister until he met his fiancée. In a very short period, Brenda had become his whole world. When she asked him to live with her and be her ghoul, he’d been the happiest man on earth.

Now Nick was here in Salem, and Rafe had to wonder how Brenda would handle meeting him. She knew about the relationship Rafe and Nick had shared, and she said it didn’t matter to her, but knowing about something and having it shoved in your face was a different matter altogether.

Brenda noticed Rafe’s hesitation. “What’s the matter?” she asked softly.

“Nothing,” he replied. Now wasn’t the time to go into his reluctance to enter the store or to answer the questions in her eyes. He smiled down at her and led her over to his friends. When they all stood to greet Rafe and his girl, he tried to focus on AJ and Howie.

“Rafe,” AJ said warmly as he shook his friend’s hand. “How’s Salem treating you?”

“Excellent,” Rafe replied honestly, hugging the man affectionately. Sure, there had been a hard couple of days when the Sabbat attacked and he’d been thrown into an alternate reality with Brenda’s sister Christina, but everything had worked out in the end.

“Hey, bro,” Howie chimed in, stepping closer for a handshake and a hug. “I see you’ve already found the prettiest girl in town.” He looked at Brenda with no little curiosity in his eyes.

Rafe shook Nick’s hand as well but thought better of hugging his ex-lover with Brenda at his side. He reached for Brenda’s hand again, then smiled at his friends. “Guys, this is Brenda Thompson, my fiancée.” He continued the introductions, but his eyes were drawn to the stunned look on Nick’s face.

As the youngest male of the group, Nick was used to being treated like a little brother. Hell, he felt like their little brother most of the time, everyone’s except Rafe. The older man had intrigued Nick from the moment he’d seen him in his father’s office.

It had taken a lot to convince Rafe that Nick wanted a relationship, not because they were both men, but because Rafe worked for Nick’s father. Then when they had finally become a couple and things had been going so well, his father had found out the truth and separated them as quickly and efficiently as he possibly could.

Nick had begged Rafe not to leave New York, but the older man wouldn’t be swayed. Rafe had ended their relationship and walked away without a second glance or hesitation.

Now Nick had come to Salem with news he hoped would lure Rafe back to New York and his father’s firm. The fact that Rafe had a fiancée complicated things, not to mention the fact that it nearly broke Nick’s heart.

Twenty minutes after sitting down, Brenda and Samantha went off to the bathroom together leaving Rafe sitting among his friends. Nick took advantage of their absence to lay his hand on Rafe’s knee.

“I’ve missed you,” the younger man said softly, not wanting to be overheard even though the others were talking quietly among themselves.

“Nick, we can’t go back to what we had,” Rafe replied gently as he took the boy’s hand from his leg. “You know that I plan to marry Brenda.”

“Do you?” he asked urgently.

“Yes,” Rafe stated with blunt honesty. “Look, we had a good thing, Nick, I’ll be the first to admit that, but it’s over. I love Brenda.”

Nick didn’t want to understand or admit defeat. “You can’t be happy with her,” he denied. “She’s a woman, she can’t possibly understand you the way I do, she can’t—”

He broke off when Brenda and Samantha returned to the table.

Rafe was very relieved at the interruption. Once he’d thought he loved Nick, but that time was over. Nick was young and naïve, and in that moment Rafe felt much older than his years.

He clutched at Brenda’s hand when she sat down, grateful that he had someone to love. If not for her, he might have been tempted to give in to the temptation that Nick held for him. If not for her, he might have decided to go back to New York and try once more to fight the corporate beast that was Nick’s father.

Nick glanced at Brenda and cleared his throat. “Rafe, I spoke with my father earlier this week.” His voice gained excitement as he spoke. “He says he wants you to come back to work at the publishing house.”

Rafe sat stunned for just a moment. He could have his old life back, his apartment, his job, his professional reputation, his friends. He could return to what he’d had before Nick’s father played God with his life. All he had to do was walk away from the woman at his side.

Brenda’s life wasn’t as simple as Rafe’s used to be. The politics that ran her life were far different from those that ran most people’s. Plus, Christina was living in Salem now, Brenda’s sister and close friend. He knew that Brenda wouldn’t be able to pick up and move to New York, even if she wanted to.

After a moment Rafe smiled and looked at Brenda. He squeezed her hand as he said honestly, “I don’t want to go back. I’ve found I missed Salem when I lived in New York, and I have no reason to go back.”

“But your job,” Nick protested.

“I don’t need it,” he replied firmly. “Actually, I’ve thought of opening an agency here in Salem.”

“Really?” AJ asked. “If you’re serious, you already have a client. I’ve been looking for a new agent.” AJ was an author of no little fame. His books had been making New York Times Best Seller list for years.

“An agency?” Howie, who was a literary agent himself, put in. “I know a few authors who aren’t happy with their agent, Rafe. You need a partner? I’m pretty sure I can talk them into coming over.”

Rafe smiled at his friends’ support. “Yes, I’m serious,” he told them. “And yes, Howie, I am looking for a partner. I was going to ask you about it later.”

“We could remodel the basement of the mansion,” Brenda said softly, smiling and squeezing his hand. “We have too much room as it is, and that way you wouldn’t have to look for an office.”

“You could have Brian do the remodeling,” Samantha put in timidly. She’d hardly spoke during the entire evening, and now she blushed as if ashamed that she had.

“I could,” Brian added.

Nick sat back and tried not to look disappointed.


	2. Whiskey, Neat

_Honesty bites the dust_   
_ O-Town - Love Should Be a Crime _

RAFE WAS WORRIED about his sister. Samantha hadn’t been herself since AJ McLean had returned to New York, and she hadn’t been willing to talk about why he’d gone back. AJ wasn’t returning his calls.

He stopped in to visit her one morning and found her in her garden, as he often did. She was sitting cross-legged on the grass staring blindly at some late blooming flowers.

“Sam?” he called softly.

She jumped almost guiltily, then relaxed a little when she realized who was there. “Rafe,” she greeted him, forcing warmth into her voice. “What are you doing here?”

“Checking on you,” he told her. Samantha had gone through a lot in the past few weeks, had nearly died more than once. She was the closest family he had since their parents had passed away when they were children.

Her face hardened a little, telling him she resented his protectiveness of her. “I’m fine,” she said firmly. “You don’t have to check up on me.”

“I know.” He sat down next to her, but not close enough to invade the space she seemed to need. “Are you hungry?”

She blanched and the color seemed to drain from her face. “No, I ate earlier.”

He wondered why she was lying to him but knew better than to press the issue. She obviously didn’t want him there and he didn’t think she was ready to answer his questions about AJ just yet.

They sat for a time in the garden, talking quietly about everything except Samantha’s health and love life. Rafe tried to keep a cool demeanor, but inside he was boiling with anger.

AJ had done or said something to Samantha to make her withdraw this way. He’d spent nearly three weeks with her, making love to her and taking care of her when she’d been injured. Then one day he’d packed up and gone back to New York without saying goodbye to anyone but Brian, and he’d only done that because Brian had come home just as AJ was leaving with his suitcases.

Rafe knew he had find out what had happened between Samantha and AJ, and he knew he wasn’t going to be getting them from his sister. It was time for a trip to New York.

Without telling his sister what he planned, he kissed her on the cheek and left her to her brooding. He was on his cell phone with the travel agent before he’d even gotten to his car, and within minutes he was booked on a flight to New York.

Two hours later he was standing in the hall outside of AJ’s apartment having second thoughts. If Sam knew what he was doing, she would go through the roof. She’d told him time and time again that she was an adult now, that she could take care of herself.

Rafe’s visit to AJ would be an intrusion into the privacy Sam had come to value over the last few years while he’d lived in New York. He had left her alone with their uncle for a long time, and now that he was living in Salem again, he had no right to intrude in her life and he knew it.

Then he remembered the shadows in her eyes and her lack of appetite. He raised his hand and pounded on the door.

“Rafe,” AJ said hesitantly when he saw who had come knocking. Then his voice gained urgency. “What are you doing here? Is something wrong with Sam?”

The concern on his friend’s face made Rafe pause. “Do you care?”

“Of course, I care,” AJ snapped at him. He stepped back so that Rafe could come into the apartment. “What’s wrong? Is it something to do with the beating Simon gave her?”

He closed his eyes briefly at that, remembering how badly Sam’s ex-boyfriend had beaten her before Rafe and Brenda had been able to stop him. He sat down heavily in a chair, regret washing over him. Rafe really wasn’t sorry he’d killed the bastard, just that the killing had come so easily to him and felt so right.

“It’s nothing like that.” Rafe ran a hand through his hair and looked up at his friend. “What happened, AJ? Why did you leave her?”

Now it was AJ’s turn to close his eyes and turn away. He sat down across from Rafe and sighed. “What did she tell you?”

“She didn’t tell me anything,” Rafe bit out harshly. “She just keeps saying that you live in New York and that I shouldn’t be surprised that you came back here. Why did you? I thought you cared about her.”

“I do,” AJ said honestly.

“Then why did you leave? Why did you fuck her and leave her alone?” Rafe demanded. “Was she just another bed toy for you?”

AJ leapt to his feet. “Don’t talk about her like that,” he roared.

Rafe sat back, relieved that AJ really seemed to care about Sam. He took a deep breath before saying something he knew he’d regret. “Tell me what happened,” he said softly.

“I didn’t want to leave,” AJ replied softly as he sat back down. “I needed to come back here and tie up some lose ends. I was planning on going back, Rafe, but as soon as she heard the words ‘New York’ she started pushing me out the door.”

“What?” Rafe was confused. “That’s not the way she tells it. She makes it sound like you told her you had to go, and she just let you.”

“That’s not what happened,” AJ insisted. “She never even gave me a chance to tell her I planned on coming back. She wouldn’t hear of it. She told me to go back to my life and forget about her, like I could.”

He stared out the window at the skyline of Manhattan, remembering the look on Sam’s face just before he’d walked out the door. “She said something funny just before I left. I don’t think she meant for me to hear it, but I did.”

“What did she say?” Rafe asked softly.

“‘Goodbye, Iowa,’” AJ replied. From the look on his friend’s face, that meant something. “What does it mean?”

Rafe sat there in shock, unable to breathe for a moment. “She called you ‘Iowa’?” he demanded when he could speak.

“I think so. What does it mean?”

“It means my sister is a blind, stubborn fool,” he growled. “You have to come back with me.”

“No.” At the dangerous look on Rafe’s face, AJ decided he’d better explain. “She may be a stubborn fool, but she knows her own mind. She doesn’t want me, Rafe. I’m not going to force my way into her life, I’d be no better than Simon.”

“Simon’s dead,” Rafe reminded him, his voice cold as ice. “If you were no better than him, you’d be dead too.”

Chills ran down AJ’s spine at the hard look on his friend’s face. “You never told me what happened to Simon,” he said carefully. “How did he die?”

“Do you care?”

AJ shrugged. “Not really. I would have killed him myself after seeing what he did to Sam.”

Rafe’s laughter was dry and harsh. “I don’t think you realize what it’s like to kill a man, AJ,” he said bleakly. “It’s not as easy as it sounds.”

“You killed him?” AJ didn’t need Rafe’s nod to know that he had. Rafe had been different when he’d walked out of that house with a battered Sam in his arms, harder, colder. At the time he’d thought Rafe had changed because of what had happened to Sam, but now he knew better.

“I’d do it again,” Rafe vowed fiercely. “I wish I could. I’d do it slower this time, make him suffer like he made Sam suffer.”

There wasn’t much for either of them to say after that. AJ sympathized with Rafe about killing Simon, but he knew that given the choice he’d have pulled the trigger himself. He loved Sam, but he found it hard to believe she loved him in return.

At one time he’d hoped to marry Rafe’s sister, to live in Salem and start a family, but when she’d all but run him out of her house, he realized that she couldn’t possibly care for him the way he wanted her to.

When Rafe left, AJ went over to the sideboard and poured himself a shot of whiskey, neat. He stood on the balcony of his expensive New York apartment and mourned the lack of meaning in his life.


	3. A Brother’s Concern

_There are some things more important than physical survival. You gotta be able to look at yourself in the mirror._   
_ Laurel K Hamilton - Circus of the Damned_

RAFE PULLED INTO Sam’s driveway just before sundown. The flight had seemed to take forever, and since he wasn’t used to being up all day, he was tired. He wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed with Brenda and fall asleep next to her, but he knew he had to talk to his sister.

He didn’t bother knocking, he didn’t have the patience to wait for Sam to come to the door. Sam came out of the den and closed the doors behind her.

“Why did you tell him to go back to New York?” he demanded.

“What are you talking about?” she asked, tucking her hair behind her ear.

“AJ,” he replied angrily. “Why did you make him leave?”

“I didn’t make him leave,” she said dismissively, walking toward the kitchen. “You know as well as I do that he doesn’t want a long-term relationship with me.”

“No, I don’t know that,” he told her, grabbing her shoulder and spinning her around to face him. “He wanted to stay here, and you wouldn’t even hear of it. Why?”

“Oh, goddess,” she whispered, appalled. “You went to New York.”

“Yeah,” he admitted with satisfaction evident in his tone. He couldn’t be sorry that he’d intruded in her life since he’d been able to get some answers out of AJ. “And a good thing I did, too. He heard what you said when he left.”

“What do you mean?” She tried to look confused, but he knew her too well.

“He told me he heard you say ‘Goodbye, Iowa.’ He asked me what that meant.”

She stared up at him in horror. “You didn’t tell him, did you?”

“Of course not, Sam,” he exclaimed impatiently. “What was I supposed to say? ‘AJ, my sister thinks you’re perfect, but for some reason, she just wants to fuck you’?”

Her hand shot out and caught him hard across the cheek. “How dare you?” she demanded. “Just because you’re my brother doesn’t mean you have the right to intrude in my life this way.”

Rafe looked down at her, shocked that his little sister could find the nerve to hit anyone, let alone her own brother. “Samantha, I just want you to be happy. Why can’t you see that? If he’s your Iowa—”

“That’s just it,” she told him. “I don’t want you to pressure him into staying with me just because you’re trying to protect your little sister. He doesn’t love me, Rafe, and I don’t want his pity.”

To his surprise, she started to cry. As they always had, her tears brought forth the protectiveness he felt for her. He gathered her into his arms and led her to the kitchen where he sat on a stool and pulled her into his lap. He led her while she cried out her heartbreak, not saying a word.

When she had control of herself again, he sat her on the next stool and retrieved a box of tissue. “Do you want a soda?” he asked softly.

She shook her head. “A glass of juice?”

He went to the refrigerator and stood looking into it for a moment, surprised that there were no soft drinks inside. He’d never known her not to have soda of some sort in the house, but all he found was milk and juice. He poured them both a drink and went back to sit beside his sister.

“Do you want to talk about it, Sam?”

She dried the tears from her face, then looked up at him. “What would you have done if Brenda hadn’t loved you, Rafe?” she asked sadly. “Would you have wanted her to stay with you out of pity, or obligation?”

“Sam, AJ cares about you,” he protested softly.

“Would you have been happy with that?” she insisted, pleading with him to understand. “Or would it have ripped up your insides every time you looked at her? And how would you have felt if I’d gone to Brenda behind your back to talk about it?”

Rafe couldn’t imagine living like that. Brenda was his whole world, he’d as soon die as live without her, but if she’d left him, he would have hated for Sam to try and intercede.

He shook his head helplessly. “I didn’t think about that when I went to New York, Sam. I’m sorry.” He reached out and covered her hand with his. “You’ve been so different since AJ left, I really thought he’d walked out on you.”

She smiled, but the sadness in her eyes made his heart ache for her. “I don’t want to be with someone who just ‘cares’ for me, Rafael. I want what you have with Brenda. I want a love so overwhelming that I can’t think straight. I want….”

“AJ,” Rafe whispered. He opened himself to read her aura as Brenda had taught him to. She was sad, which he’d expected, and he caught the signs that she was deeply in love in the colors that surrounded her slim frame. She was also very determined about something.

As he looked, he saw something that he didn’t understand. Inside of his sister’s aura was a wash of light, a shinning innocence centered over her abdomen. It was as if that area had a life of its own, and he didn’t understand what it meant. He frowned.

“You might as well say Iowa,” Sam said, bringing him back to reality. “AJ lives a totally different life than I do. He has all these beautiful women who would love to be with him. I can’t compete.” She noticed his intent gaze. “What’s the matter?”

He blinked and met her eyes. “Are you sick?”

“I’m not sick,” she denied.

She wasn’t lying, but somehow, he wasn’t sure she was telling the whole truth either. Still, he’d done enough digging for one day. If she said she wasn’t sick, he had no reason to believe her, but he’d ask Brenda about what he saw as soon as he saw her.

“I just don’t want you to make yourself sick over this, Sam,” he said with a reassuring smile. “And I don’t want you to feel like I’m the overprotective big brother, either. You’ll let me know if you need anything?”

“I will,” she replied. “If I need anything, you’ll be the first to know. Now, isn’t Brenda going to be worried if you’re not home soon?”

Rafe glanced at the clock and swore softly. The sun had been down for half an hour, and Brenda worried if he wasn’t at her side when she woke for the evening. As he reached for his cell phone, he said, “Do you want me to stay here with you for a while?”

“No,” she said firmly. “I’ll be fine. I’m late for class, anyway.”

Brenda answered the phone on the first ring, her voice sounding anxious until she realized it was Rafe calling. “Where are you?”

“I’m at Samantha’s,” he told her. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you woke up, Bren. I didn’t mean to worry you, but I had to talk to her.”

“Do you want me to come over?” she asked.

He glanced at his sister and figured he’d intruded enough. “No, I’ll be home soon.”

“All right,” she replied in the soft voice that always made Rafe want to kiss her. They hung up and Rafe turned back to his sister.

“Rafe,” Sam said sadly. “I love you, and I know that you’re just trying to do what’s best for me.”

“I just want you happy, Sam,” he said, pulling her into his arms for a comforting hug. “I love you. If I don’t take care of you, who will?”

“Me?” she suggested. “I’ll call you in a couple days, okay?”

“Sure, sis,” he agreed, kissing her cheek. He knew he’d overstayed his welcome. “Then maybe we can talk about AJ again.”

She rolled her eyes and slapped his arm playfully. “Maybe not.”

He left a few minutes later, wondering what she’d been hiding from him. A few weeks ago, he would have dismissed his gut feeling, but in the last few weeks his sister had grown a backbone.

When he got home, he found Brenda waiting for him in the living room. He took her in his arms and kissed her, thankful as always that he had her to come home to.

He told Brenda everything he’d done that day, about his trip to New York, and his visit with Sam. When he mentioned the abnormality in his sister’s aura, Brenda knew exactly what it was.

“She’s pregnant,” Brenda whispered thoughtfully.

“What?” Rafe had expected anything but that. It surprised him so much that he had to sit down.

“I wonder if she’s told AJ,” Brenda murmured.

He ran a hand through his hair and struggled to keep calm. “I doubt it,” he replied. “AJ would have mentioned it.”

She stood looking at the empty fireplace for a long moment, then walked purposefully to the phone. At first Rafe thought she was calling Samantha, but then he realized she’d dialed too many numbers.


	4. News and Plans

_Life is what happens while you’re making plans_   
_ Sheryl Crow - Diamond Road_

AJ HAD SPENT the afternoon staring out over the city, working his way purposefully through a bottle of Jack Daniels. By the time the phone rang an hour after sunset, he was more than a little numb, but his voice was clear enough when he answered Brenda’s call.

“AJ,” she said softly. “I have a question to ask you, and I need you to be honest when you answer.”

He agreed, having no reason to lie to her.

“Do you love Samantha?” she asked.

“Of course, I do,” he replied coolly.

“Then why did you leave?”

“I explained this to Rafe,” he said patiently. “She doesn’t want me there.”

“Are you sure?” she demanded. “Or is she just pushing you away because she thinks she’s not what you need?”

AJ had to remind himself to be nice. Rafe was one of his best friends, and he didn’t want to offend his fiancée. “I don’t know what she’s doing, Brenda, but she doesn’t want me around. I have to honor her wishes.”

“What if I told you she was pregnant?”

Those softly spoken words blew AJ’s mind. He nearly dropped the phone as he staggered over to a chair before his legs could give out on him. “Pregnant?” he whispered. “Has she told you that?”

“Of course not,” Brenda replied calmly. “She isn’t saying much to anyone right now. She’s young and afraid, AJ. She’s pushing everyone away from her.”

Her words rang true to AJ. Samantha was barely nineteen, and the only experience she’d had with men until recently was Simon. Even thinking the name made AJ curse under his breath.

Simon had hurt Sam more than once, the last time so badly she’d almost died. She’d dated Simon for years until AJ had gone to Salem. Within days she’d broken up with Simon, prompting him to hurt her for the first time, or so Sam had said.

Sam’s reluctance to have AJ around and her secrecy about the child could stem from something other than her age. It was very possible that Simon was the father. But what if he wasn’t? What if the child had been conceived during AJ’s weeks with Samantha?

“Thank you for telling me, Brenda,” AJ said finally.

“Do you mind if I ask what you’re going to do?” she asked politely, but there was steel in her tone.

“I don’t know,” he replied honestly. He thought that perhaps he’d give Sam time to realize they were meant to be together. “I’ll let you know as soon as I figure it out.”

Brenda knew she had pushed enough. “Good night then, AJ.”

“Good night, Brenda.”

Once he hung the phone up, AJ turned and looked at his luxurious apartment. All the money in the world wasn’t any comfort to him if he couldn’t share it with Samantha.

He sent his whisky glass flying across the room where it shattered against a very expensive painting, tearing the canvas. Not really feeling any better, he headed for the shower to sober up.

AJ was just wiping the last of the water from his body when the phone rang again. He half expected it to be Brenda, but it was Brian, Rafe’s cousin.

“Hey bud,” Brian said by way of greeting. “What’s up in the big city?”

“Same ol’, Bri,” AJ replied, walking into his bedroom. He had talked to Brian several times in the last week, and now he asked the same question he’d asked each of those times. “How’s Samantha?”

“The big city ladies’ man is still worried about my country cousin?” Brian drawled coolly.

“Cut the shit,” AJ demanded. “How is she?”

“Actually, she’s why I called.” Brian smiled to himself, almost enjoying drawing his explanation out. “I’m a little worried about her.”

“Is she okay?” AJ asked urgently. “She hasn’t—” He stopped himself before he asked if she’d lost the baby Brian might not know she was carrying.

In that moment AJ realized that it didn’t matter whose baby it was, he wanted to be a part of raising it. He loved Samantha and he knew that somehow, he had to convince her that they belonged together.

“She’s fine,” Brian assured him. “My cousin in Sioux City says that she’ll be real happy to see Sam when she shows up next week.”

“What?” AJ wasn’t sure he’d heard his friend right. “She’s going to Iowa?”

“Moving there, to be precise,” Brian replied. “From what I understand, she’s transferred all her classes and is going to stay with my cousin until she gets settled.”

Once again AJ had to sit down or fall down.

“Are you just going to let her go, AJ?” Brian demanded. “I know you care about her.”

“Hell, I love her,” AJ whispered fiercely.

Brian was more than happy to hear that. It meant he wouldn’t have to fly to New York and have a less civilized discussion with one of his best friends. “Then don’t let her go.”

“I won’t.”

By the time AJ hung up the phone a few minutes later he had a plan, one that Brian had been willing to help with. He just needed to make some arrangements and he’d be on his way to Salem.

**Author's Note:**

> My gaming group has always played fast and loose with the White Wolf rules, including lots of things we see in various TV shows, movies and books. We were playing mostly in the late 1990s and early 2000s so we use/used the editions available at that time. 
> 
> We also threw all the 'By Night' rules out of the window and created our own rulers in our cities. Some of the cannon White Wolf characters may show up from time to time, but don't expect them to be like the books. 
> 
> I'll be separating these stories both by character and by city, so some stories may be listed under multiple Series under my profile here on AO3. 
> 
> If you're interested in learning more about our world 'After Dark' please visit my website at www.whendarknessfalls.net.


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